VILLEROY & BOCH CHINA

Now, I'm not a "tablescaper", nor do I ever intend to be. But I just wanted to show you my winter dishes before they get put away for the season. I pull them out after Thanksgiving each year and leave them out until the end of February.

They are the Naif Christmas pattern by Villeroy & Boch. And, yes, they are expensive. I first saw them back in 1985 at the V&B factory outlet in Luxembourg (a teeny tiny country in Europe between Belgium and Germany). (The flatware is Brahms by Oneida)

I lived in Germany (between Darmstadt and Frankfurt) and Belgium (Rhode-St.-Genese) for two years, working at a Christian missionary organization that made college-level Bible courses for many countries around the world. I worked in the graphic arts department, doing mostly typesetting, but picked up quite a lot of other skills while there.

One Saturday, some of my friends said they were going to the V&B factory in Luxembourg and would I like to go too. I had never heard of V&B, or Luxembourg for that matter of fact, and fell in love with all their patterns as soon as I walked in! The only thing I could afford on a missionary's budget was a small ceramic Christmas ornament and a tile trivet! Nonetheless, I was smitten!

These are a relish dish, I think, but I use them for sandwiches, pastries and snacks!

A few years after I'd been back in the States, I found an incomplete 12-piece set of the Petite Fleur pattern at a yard sale for $25. One dinner plate is worth that alone! I was so excited, because that's my favorite pattern. Unfortunately, I lost most of them in our house fire (read about that here.)

Petite Fleur

Since then, I stumbled upon some Naif Christmas at Marshall's, or Home Goods - cheap! So I slowly built up my set with the help of gifts from my mother-in-law!

So now you've seen some humble photos of my dishes!

I'm mailing some of my Valentines today, but I'm not going to show them yet - I'm a tease!

"Spring" Cleaning

I always start my Spring Cleaning right after Christmas. When the tree comes down and the decorations are put away, everything gets cleaned out and reorganized. This proved very helpful six years ago when our house burned down one January day. That year I had done a more-thorough-than-usual cleaning, which was a relief when I had to remember everything in the house for the insurance company.

We were living in an approximately 200-year-old farmhouse and barn with seven acres. We heated the house exclusively with a wood stove. The fire chief said a spark must have been smoldering all day while we were out. It was a blessing in disguise, because the house needed more work than we could afford to do.

We now have a Cape Cod style "cottage", right in the exact same spot. The barn was untouched, much to my husbands relief - that's his playground! And my garden shed was saved, also - much to my relief!



Another bonus as a result of the fire is that my husband discovered he has a talent for building stone walls! The above photo shows my garden shed, a portion of one of the stone walls, and one of two sets of stairs he made using the foundations stones from the original house. Waste not, want not!